Using Photography to Inspire Writing 9

By Hank Kellner

(continued from page 1)

Photo + Poem = Inspiration

If you’ve read the first, fifth, and seventh articles in this series, you’ve seen how powerful a photo-poem combination can be.

Here’s another example of one that’s sure to inspire students of all ages and help them overcome their reluctance to writing.

At the Lake
Slowly,
The fog rose from the lake
Where we stood a century ago.
Quickly,
The time passed
As we moved beyond that place.
Brightly,
The sun shines on the lake
Where I wait and think of where you are
Today.

Most of the time, all you have to do to motivate your students is to show them a photo-poem combination without comment. But if that doesn’t work, you can always suggest possibilities for them. You can, for example, ask them to describe a friend or relative they haven’t seen for several years in terms of that person’s physical, mental, and emotional characteristics. You can also encourage them to reveal why their relationship with their friend or relative was important to them.

Sharing Photos and Writing

At Southwestern Oklahoma State University, Valerie Reimers cites noted photography critic and historian A. D. Coleman’s love of “found” photographs, which he sometimes picks up inexpensively in antique stores. “In conjunction with the idea of ‘found’ photographs,” she writes, “Coleman suggests that writing workshop participants bring favorite photos to class.” Then the students exchange photos and write about their borrowed photos as if they had just found a very interesting photo and are describing it. “Looking at someone else’s photo brings attention to details that might be ignored as too familiar in one’s own favorite photo,” Reimers concludes. Students then share what they have written about each other’s photos before they write about their own images.

Our Town Revisited

English teacher Joann Garbarini shows her students at Irvine High School in Irvine, California photographs of different towns and asks them to pick one they would like to write about. She then instructs them to imagine what the town they chose is like. “They must include descriptions of ethnicities, social class, jobs, relationships between neighbors, the education system, the town’s history, and anything else they can surmise from the photograph,” she writes. To conclude the exercise, Garbarini directs the students to write about their own town and compare and contrast it to their imaginary town. •

Next: Using Photography to Inspire Writing 10

Copyright © Hank Kellner 2009 Photos by the author. Poem by Jerry Kato.

About the Author | More by Hank Kellner
Write What You See: 99 Photos To Inspire Writing by Hank Kellner available from Amazon. Original Edition. Cottonwood Press. I-800-864-4297. Cottonwood Press is distributed by Independent Publishers Group. Includes supplementary CD with photos. 8 ½ x11, 120 pages, perfect binding, ISBN 978-1-877-673-83-2, LCCN 2008938630. Visit the author’s blog at hank-englisheducation.blogspot.com. The author will contribute a portion of the royalties earned from the sale of this book to The Wounded Warriors Project.

04/11/09